Environment blog | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog
The Guardian's blog on the environment, climate change and global warmingen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015Wed, 04 Mar 2015 00:25:52 GMT2015-03-04T00:25:52Zen-gbGuardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. 2015The Guardianhttp://assets.guim.co.uk/images/guardian-logo-rss.c45beb1bafa34b347ac333af2e6fe23f.pnghttp://www.theguardian.com
Canadian government pushing First Nations to give up land rights for oil and gas profits | Martin Lukacshttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2015/mar/03/documents-harper-pushing-first-nations-to-shelve-rights-buy-into-resource-rush
<p>Harper government organized private meetings between oil firms and Indigenous chiefs to try and gain support for oil and gas pipelines and other investments located on their lands, documents reveal<br></p><p>The Harper government is trying to win support for its pipelines and resource agenda by pushing First Nations to sideline their aboriginal rights in exchange for business opportunities, documents reveal.<br /></p><p>The news that Canada’s Ministry of Aboriginal Affairs is working to this end by collaborating with the Assembly of First Nations (AFN) is sparking strong criticism from grassroots Indigenous people.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2015/mar/03/documents-harper-pushing-first-nations-to-shelve-rights-buy-into-resource-rush">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentIndigenous peoplesCanadaOil sandsOilMiningEnergyTue, 03 Mar 2015 06:02:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/true-north/2015/mar/03/documents-harper-pushing-first-nations-to-shelve-rights-buy-into-resource-rushPhotograph: Mark Klotz/flickrA rally against the expansion of the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline on Burnaby Mountain in British Columbia, Canada, in November, 2014. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/markklotz/15632298379/">Photograph: Mark Klotz/flickr</a>Photograph: Mark Klotz/flickrA rally against the expansion of the Kinder Morgan tar sands pipeline on Burnaby Mountain in British Columbia, Canada, in November, 2014. <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/markklotz/15632298379/">Photograph: Mark Klotz/flickr</a>Martin Lukacs2015-03-03T06:02:10ZThe truth behind the story on the 'world's oldest tree' being cut downhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/26/the-truth-worlds-oldest-tree-cut-down
<p>‘Hoax’ article on the Amazon correctly identifies threats to Brazil-Peru border region</p><p>In December the <a href="http://worldnewsdailyreport.com/loggers-accidentally-cut-down-worlds-oldest-tree-in-amazon/">World News Daily Report</a> (WNDR) published an article claiming that the “world’s oldest tree” had been cut down along the Brazil-Peru border in the Amazon. It stated that a “giant Samauma tree that is thought to be over 5,800 years old” in the “Mats&eacute;s Indigenous Reserve” had been “accidentally” felled by illegal loggers, and quoted “local tribesman leader Tahuactep of the Mats&eacute;s tribe” saying it had “brought darkness upon not only our people, but the whole world.”</p><p>Some media responded by reporting it as fact, others by calling it a hoax. The Independent described it as “one of the 11 weirdest hoaxes of 2014”, while the Washington Post asserted that the WNDR is a “hoax-news site whose stories — we repeat! — are always fake” and “the world’s oldest tree is actually “somewhere in eastern California” and “only 5,062 years old.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/26/the-truth-worlds-oldest-tree-cut-down">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentPeruBrazilFri, 27 Feb 2015 00:00:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/26/the-truth-worlds-oldest-tree-cut-downPhotograph: David Hill/David HillMatsés man Gerson Gomes Bina Mayuruna from Lobo village in Brazil.Photograph: David Hill/David HillMatsés man Gerson Gomes Bina Mayuruna from Lobo village in Brazil.David Hill2015-02-27T00:00:16ZIs Bolivia going to frack 'Mother Earthhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/23/bolivia-frack-mother-earth
<p>First steps towards producing shale gas meet with increasing concern among Bolivian civil society</p><p>The momentum is building. Bolivia’s state oil and gas company YPFB announced in early 2013 it would begin studies to identify shale gas deposits, and in November that same year it gave a presentation in Santa Cruz on shale gas and the country’s probable reserves. Also in 2013 it ordered companies to take samples of one particularly promising geological formation, sent a delegation to the Vaca Muerte shale gas deposits in Argentina, and signed an agreement with YPF, Argentina’s state oil and gas company, to “evaluate shale gas potential” in Bolivia’s Chaco region and train Bolivians in shale gas techniques. </p><p>That’s to say nothing of the “minifracking” that has already been done at one Bolivian well “with the support of the Halliburton company” and which found tight oil, according to Reporte Energia in June 2013 drawing on “trustworthy sources in the hydrocarbons industry.” </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/23/bolivia-frack-mother-earth">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentGasShale gas and frackingEnergyFossil fuelsBoliviaAmericasTue, 24 Feb 2015 00:39:06 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/23/bolivia-frack-mother-earthPhotograph: Jose Miguel Gomez/ReutersAn indigenous woman in Bolivia where moves to frack are meeting with increasing concern among civil society.Photograph: Jose Miguel Gomez/ReutersAn indigenous woman in Bolivia where moves to frack are meeting with increasing concern among civil society.David Hill2015-02-24T00:39:06ZThe UK must fight for better World Bank environment policyhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/19/uk-must-fight-better-world-bank-environment-policy
<p>Proposed changes to Bank safeguards described as “dismantling 30 years of policy evolution”</p><p>Destroying eco-systems, devastating forests, threatening vulnerable species, hurting the poor, increasing inequality, facilitating corruption, warming the planet, promoting “unfair trade” and encouraging human rights abuses, the forced evictions of 1000s of people and even “cultural genocide”, amongst other things. . . You might have thought that, with a history of such charges levelled against it, the World Bank would be improving its lending culture to guarantee that in the future its loans don’t have such shattering social and environmental impacts.</p><p>Right? Actually, no. The Bank is coming to the end of an extended review of its “environmental and social safeguards policies”, and things aren’t promising. A “consultation” on draft new safeguards in Peru earlier this month met with a mass walk-out - not the first time that has happened. Immediately afterwards, over 190 civil society institutions and individuals from across Latin America and the Caribbean issued a statement, from Lima, saying:</p><p>We wish to express our profound concern and dissatisfaction with the World Bank’s Environmental and Social Safeguard review process, as well as with the current draft of the new Environmental and Social Policy and Environmental and Social Standards published by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development [one of two institutions making up the World Bank, one of five in the World Bank Group]. The backtracking and weaknesses found therein considerably outweigh its positive aspects.</p><p>We strongly object to the World Bank’s safeguards draft since it falls far short of the rules needed to protect the environment and respect the rights of affected communities, workers and indigenous peoples. The draft derogates from well-established international standards and would effectively dismantle 30 years of policy evolution, setting a dangerous precedent among national, regional and global actors. The draft represents a massive dilution of current Bank policy that undermines momentum for the upward harmonization of social and environmental standards and their alignment with universal human rights.</p><p>When this process is complete, we will have an environmental and social framework that represents stronger leadership, stronger partnership, and stronger protections for the poor and the environment. We will do more and we will do it better.</p><p>The Government attaches considerable importance to the current review of the World Bank’s Safeguards Framework. We have been strongly engaged throughout both with UK civil society organisations and the World Bank, most recently at UK consultation meetings on 19-20 January. At these, discussions with the Bank included a specific focus on how the safeguards will ensure proper consideration and risk management for vulnerable or disadvantaged groups such as women, the disabled and LGBT people. The Government will continue to raise these points as the review progresses.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/19/uk-must-fight-better-world-bank-environment-policy">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentThu, 19 Feb 2015 22:01:55 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/19/uk-must-fight-better-world-bank-environment-policyPhotograph: Joe Athialy/Joe AthialyProtesters outside World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. in October 2014 after a civil society walk-out.Photograph: Joe Athialy/Joe AthialyProtesters outside World Bank headquarters in Washington D.C. in October 2014 after a civil society walk-out.David Hill2015-02-19T22:01:55ZPrivatisation of UK woodlands is happening by the backdoor | Mark Averyhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/17/privatisation-uk-woodlands-happening-by-backdoor
<p>Plans to build luxury holiday cabins, majority-owned by venture capitalists, in public forests put protected wildlife and their habitats at risk</p><p>Four years ago the environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, told the House of Commons that she was ditching the coalition government’s plans to privatise the Forestry Commission (FC). “I’m sorry. We got this one wrong, but we have listened to people’s concerns,” <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2011/feb/17/forest-sell-off-abandoned-sorry-caroline-spelman">she said</a>. </p><p>But if you go down to the woods today, you may have a big surprise, because privatisation of our woodlands appears to be proceeding by the back door.<br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/17/privatisation-uk-woodlands-happening-by-backdoor">Continue reading...</a>Trees and forestsWildlifeConservationBirdsEnvironmentCaroline SpelmanUK newsTue, 17 Feb 2015 13:03:35 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/17/privatisation-uk-woodlands-happening-by-backdoorPhotograph: Hattie Spray/PAFineshade woods are home to protected dormice.Photograph: Hattie Spray/PAFineshade woods are home to protected dormice.Photograph: Lov Lovelylight elylight/AlamyAre our forests safe in Forestry Commission hands? A Forest Holidays development of 70 luxury holiday cabins is planned for Fineshade woods.Photograph: Lov Lovelylight elylight/AlamyAre our forests safe in Forestry Commission hands? A Forest Holidays development of 70 luxury holiday cabins is planned for Fineshade woods.Mark Avery2015-02-17T13:03:35ZPeru planning highway through most biodiverse place on earth | David Hillhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/12/peru-highway-most-biodiverse-place-on-earth
<p>Manu national park in the Amazon under threat from extension of national ‘jungle highway’</p><p>The Manu national park and its buffer zone in Peru was international news early last year after scientists found it is “top of the [world’s] list of natural protected areas in terms of amphibian and reptile diversity”, beating off stiff competition from the Yasuni national park in neighbouring Ecuador. What these news reports didn’t acknowledge, not surprisingly, are the immense threats facing Manu - a Unesco biosphere reserve in the south-east Peruvian Amazon where Unesco states the biodiversity “exceeds that of any other place on earth”. </p><p>The first such threat, to the park itself, is from oil and gas exploration and exploitation. For years Manu has been believed to hold significant hydrocarbon deposits, and numerous oil and gas industry maps depict “undrilled prospects”, “seeps” and a “spring” lying under the park. According to Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines, five distinct “geological structures” in Manu could hold more than 14 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. </p><p>It must be pointed out that [this trail] coincides with the proposed route for the national [highway] network which comes from the central rainforest region (Junin), crosses the Urubamba towards the south, and runs parallel along the length of the [River] Camisea, passes the three settlements, and then penetrates the Manu national park. [A]lthough the model of the Camisea [gas] project continues being “off-shore in-land” (without access roads), there are national and regional plans proposing, in the medium- or long-term, extending communication routes into the upper Camisea and the Manu park. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/12/peru-highway-most-biodiverse-place-on-earth">Continue reading...</a>Indigenous peoplesPeruAmericasNational parksConservationWildlifeEnvironmentTrees and forestsAmazon rainforestThu, 12 Feb 2015 15:04:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2015/feb/12/peru-highway-most-biodiverse-place-on-earthPhotograph: Javier Florez/Javier Florez“Matsigenka-Nanti” woman and children along the upper River Camisea in the Manu national park buffer zone in the Peruvian Amazon.Photograph: Javier Florez/Javier Florez“Matsigenka-Nanti” woman and children along the upper River Camisea in the Manu national park buffer zone in the Peruvian Amazon.David Hill2015-02-12T15:04:14ZIndonesia winning battle to save world's richest reef systemhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2015/feb/12/indonesia-winning-battle-to-save-worlds-richest-reef-system
<p>The sinking of an illegal shark finning boat in Raja Ampat on Tuesday was the latest win in one of marine conservation’s biggest success stories<br></p><p>Indonesian authorities scuppered another illegal fishing boat on Tuesday, this time in the remote south of the Raja Ampat Islands, just off the coast of West Papua. Local Papuan rangers spotted the 55-tonne Vietnamese vessel as it deployed a gill net in a Marine Protected Area (MPA). On board, police found more than two tonnes of drying shark fins and 80 critically endangered Hawksbill turtles bound for the Philippines. </p><p>Though the cargo is depressing, the boat’s capture and sinking reflects one of the biggest success stories in marine conservation, one that has triggered a major shift in marine policy throughout Indonesia. Over the last three years, rangers from local communities in Raja Ampat have reduced local violations of MPA rules from around 50% to just 10%. A concerted effort by local authorities and communities has bucked the trend of ineffective enforcement that besets so many MPAs and since 2011, more than 30 boats have been captured. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2015/feb/12/indonesia-winning-battle-to-save-worlds-richest-reef-system">Continue reading...</a>IndonesiaConservationMarine lifeWest PapuaFishingSharksAsia PacificEnvironmentThu, 12 Feb 2015 09:15:49 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2015/feb/12/indonesia-winning-battle-to-save-worlds-richest-reef-systemPhotograph: J Thonak/Conservation InternationalAn illegal Vietnamese vessel caught with shark fins &amp; endangered turtles is sunk in the Raja Ampat archieplago off the coast of West Papua, Indonesia on 10 February 2015.Photograph: J Thonak/Conservation InternationalAn illegal Vietnamese vessel caught with shark fins &amp; endangered turtles is sunk in the Raja Ampat archieplago off the coast of West Papua, Indonesia on 10 February 2015.Johnny Langenheim2015-02-12T09:15:49ZFossil fuel companies are the greatest threat to life's party – not greenshttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/04/fossil-fuel-companies-are-the-greatest-threat-to-lifes-party-not-greens
<p>People who argue it’s a good idea to respect nature’s thresholds get labelled spoilsports, but the real party-poopers are those who recognise no limits at all </p><p><strong>22 months and counting</strong></p><p>“Will we go ahead?” <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/01/29/shell-arctic-idUSL6N0V846B20150129">asked </a>Shell CEO, Ben van Beurden, rhetorically, about the oil company’s plans to drill in the Arctic. “Yes if we can. I’d be so disappointed if we wouldn’t.” Van Beurden had the grace to concede that his <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-31034870">plans</a> “divide society,” but he seemed unable to comprehend that they might condemn it.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/04/fossil-fuel-companies-are-the-greatest-threat-to-lifes-party-not-greens">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentClimate changeFossil fuelsEnergyWed, 04 Feb 2015 17:16:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/feb/04/fossil-fuel-companies-are-the-greatest-threat-to-lifes-party-not-greensPhotograph: Sara Francis/APShell’s drilling rig Kulluk ran aground in the Arctic in 2012. Shell’s new CEO says he will go ahead with oil drilling in the region.Photograph: Sara Francis/APShell’s drilling rig Kulluk ran aground in the Arctic in 2012. Shell’s new CEO says he will go ahead with oil drilling in the region.Andrew Simms2015-02-04T17:16:53ZIndia: Former minister delayed projects at party behest | Janaki Leninhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/feb/03/india-former-minister-delayed-projects-at-partys-behest
<p>As India’s environment minister, Jayanthi Natarajan says she delayed specific infrastructure projects on the instructions of the Congress party’s vice president, Rahul Gandhi. Five projects cleared by the ministry are being investigated<br></p><p>Jayanthi Natarajan, a former minister of environment and forests, resigned from the primary membership of the Congress party on Friday. Since the party was defeated at the polls in May 2014, Natarajan is the latest to <a href="http://www.livemint.com/Politics/hlPgc2JzxapYnsGQNrUs5I/8-prominent-Congress-leaders-who-quit-the-party-since-May-20.html">quit</a><a> the Congress</a>. <br /></p><p>More than her resignation, it’s the <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/full-text-of-jayanthi-natarajans-letter-to-sonia-gandhi/article6835522.ece">letter she sent to the party president, Sonia Gandhi</a>, in November 2014 that is significant. Released to the press only now, it reveals how the ministry of environment and forests functioned under her two-and-half-year term, between July 2011 and December 2013. She claims she received instructions from the office of the party’s vice-president Rahul Gandhi on particular infrastructure projects. She also liaised with Sonia Gandhi on specific ones in which the latter had expressed interest. <br /></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/feb/03/india-former-minister-delayed-projects-at-partys-behest">Continue reading...</a>EnvironmentIndiaMiningHydropowerTue, 03 Feb 2015 09:54:14 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/feb/03/india-former-minister-delayed-projects-at-partys-behestPhotograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty ImagesIndian Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan at the Tenth BASIC Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi on February 14 ,2011.Photograph: Sajjad Hussain/AFP/Getty ImagesIndian Minister of Environment and Forests Jayanthi Natarajan at the Tenth BASIC Ministerial Meeting in New Delhi on February 14 ,2011.Janaki Lenin2015-02-03T09:54:14ZWhat the UK could learn from New York's fracking banhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/19/what-the-uk-could-learn-from-new-yorks-fracking-ban
<p>New York state’s ban on fracking rested largely on evidence of an adverse public health impact. Why aren’t UK authorities worried?</p><p>Just before Christmas, <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/17/new-york-state-fracking-ban-two-years-public-health">New York became the first US state with major shale gas reserves to ban fracking for health reasons</a>. The industry was shocked, campaigners cheered and governments like Britain, desperate to exploit their own reserves, looked the other way. It had never happened before. <br /></p><p>The six-year New York campaign to ban fracking had been <a href="http://artistsagainstfracking.com">backed by hundreds of artists, actors, musicians and celebrities</a>, such as Lady Gaga, Yoko Ono, Mark Ruffalo and the late Pete Seeger. There had also been massive opposition <a href="http://nyagainstfracking.org">from 250 grassroots groups</a> fearful of the effects of fracking on everything from tourism to property prices. But while the celebs and groups may have shifted public opinion with film, social media, music and meetings, it was the new science that spoke most loudly to governor Andrew Cuomo and his advisers. <br /></p><p>The overall weight of the evidence from the cumulative body of information demonstrates that there are significant uncertainties about the kinds of adverse health outcomes that may be associated with high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF), the likelihood of the occurrence of adverse health outcomes, and the effectiveness of some of the mitigation measures in reducing or preventing environmental impacts which could adversely affect public health. Until the science provides sufficient information to determine the level of risk to public health from high volume hydraulic fracking... the department of health recommends that HVHF should not proceed.</p><p>We began in [scientific] ignorance in 2008 when there were just six studies into the health effects of fracking. Now there are 412. Over 70% of all the available peer-reviewed papers have been published in the past two years, with a current average of one paper published each day; 87% of original research studies indicate potential risks or adverse health outcomes; 95% indicate elevated concentrations of air pollutants, and 72% of water studies indicate potential or actual incidence of contamination. It became very clear to health professionals and scientists that scientific studies of the environmental and health dangers ... had begun to emerge in a substantial way. Their findings were alarming, showing health and environmental impacts and leaving unanswered questions about the extent of even further risks.</p><p>As a public health biologist, I [now] see fracking as the most dangerous industrial practice that I have ever seen. The new data clearly show that fracking... cannot be made safe through any regulatory framework. In densely-populated regions, like the UK and New York, public health consequences are unavoidable. Prevention of public health impacts are not possible as long as drilling and fracking operations pour carcinogenic benzene into the air. Old wells leak. New wells leak methane and benzene. And these leaks cannot be fixed fast enough to compensate for the increasing numbers of wells that must continuously be brought on line to take the place of depleted wells – which themselves go on leaking into retirement and beyond.</p><p>The claim of PHE that fracking is safe if properly practised and regulated cannot be substantiated on the basis of the available evidence which is inadequate and incomplete... Given the risks associated with fracking and the knowledge that the regulatory system is inadequate and under-resourced, the ‘precautionary principle’ points clearly to the need to reject the applications for exploratory fracking. Fracking is an inherently risky activity. Environmental pollution (air as well as ground and surface water) will occur at all stages of the shale gas extraction process. Outdoor air pollutants include volatile organic compounds, tropospheric ozone, and diesel particulate matter. Pollutants in ground and surface water include benzene, hydrocarbons, heavy metals and naturally occurring radioactive material. While some pollutants are known to have toxic and harmful properties, many have not been adequately studied while others have not been studied at all.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/19/what-the-uk-could-learn-from-new-yorks-fracking-ban">Continue reading...</a>Shale gas and frackingEnvironmentGasNew YorkUS newsMon, 19 Jan 2015 16:08:46 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/19/what-the-uk-could-learn-from-new-yorks-fracking-banPhotograph: John Lamparski/Getty ImagesYoko Ono attends the Yoko Ono’s Imagine No Fracking Installation at ABC Home &amp; Carpet on April 19, 2013 in New York City.Photograph: John Lamparski/Getty ImagesYoko Ono attends the Yoko Ono’s Imagine No Fracking Installation at ABC Home &amp; Carpet on April 19, 2013 in New York City.Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesProtesters demand a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing in New York City. The protest was held outside a Democratic party event with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo attending.Photograph: Andrew Burton/Getty ImagesProtesters demand a statewide ban on hydraulic fracturing in New York City. The protest was held outside a Democratic party event with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo attending.Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesA hydraulic fracturing site in South Montrose, Pennsylvania.Photograph: Spencer Platt/Getty ImagesA hydraulic fracturing site in South Montrose, Pennsylvania.Photograph: ANDREW KELLY/ANDREW KELLY/ReutersNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo (right) greets fracking protesters outside his office in New York in December 2014.Photograph: ANDREW KELLY/ANDREW KELLY/ReutersNew York Governor Andrew Cuomo (right) greets fracking protesters outside his office in New York in December 2014.Photograph: John Lamparski/WireImagePhotograph: John Lamparski/WireImageJohn Vidal2015-01-19T16:08:46ZShould tackling climate change trump protecting nature? | Miles Kinghttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/19/should-tackling-climate-change-trump-protecting-nature
<p>Planners have given the green light for a solar farm at Rampisham Down, a SSSI in West Dorset. But stopping biodiversity loss is as important as stopping global warming</p><p>Does the need to mitigate the effects of man-made climate change override the need to protect nature? <br /></p><p>Climate change is with us, and is one of nine reasons why scientists <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/jan/15/rate-of-environmental-degradation-puts-life-on-earth-at-risk-say-scientists?CMP=share_btn_tw">are now concerned</a> that the rate of environmental degradation is a threat to the future of human life on Earth. The loss of biodiversity, dubbed the <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/dec/14/earth-faces-sixth-great-extinction-with-41-of-amphibians-set-to-go-the-way-of-the-dodo">Sixth Green Extinction by some</a>, is another threat to humanity, with nearly half of the world’s amphibians and a fifth of its plants at risk of extinction.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/19/should-tackling-climate-change-trump-protecting-nature">Continue reading...</a>WildlifeConservationSolar powerEnvironmentEnergyRenewable energyClimate changeBiodiversityMon, 19 Jan 2015 12:37:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/19/should-tackling-climate-change-trump-protecting-naturePhotograph: Tim Ireland/PANature experts have hit out at a decision to allow a solar farm with tens of thousands of panels to be built on protected wildlife-rich grassland.Photograph: Tim Ireland/PANature experts have hit out at a decision to allow a solar farm with tens of thousands of panels to be built on protected wildlife-rich grassland.Miles King2015-01-19T12:37:09ZIndonesia's new marine laws threaten sustainable fisherieshttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2015/jan/14/indonesias-new-marine-laws-threaten-sustainable-fisheries
<p>Illegal fishing by foreign vessels costs Indonesia billions of dollars each year, but measures to stop them could bankrupt sustainable pole and line fisheries<br></p><p>Indonesia’s new zero tolerance policy towards foreign fishing vessels illegally entering the country’s territorial waters has been making headlines in recent weeks, alongside images of Navy warships blowing up boats. Indonesia’s popular new president Joko Widodo has publicly stated there are 5,000 foreign fishing boats operating illegally in Indonesian waters, costing the local fishing industry US$24bn (&pound;16bn). </p><p>The hardline measures are the most visible of a raft of new policies aimed at revitalising the maritime status of the world’s largest archipelagic nation by improving infrastructure (including transport networks and ports), protecting local fisheries and reducing pressure on Indonesia’s marine resources. Fisheries experts are welcoming the moves, as is an Indonesian public keen to see their new president assert himself on the world stage. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2015/jan/14/indonesias-new-marine-laws-threaten-sustainable-fisheries">Continue reading...</a>IndonesiaEnvironmentFishingWorld newsAsia PacificFoodMarine lifeConservationWed, 14 Jan 2015 09:40:27 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/the-coral-triangle/2015/jan/14/indonesias-new-marine-laws-threaten-sustainable-fisheriesPhotograph: Jurgen Freund/Jurgen Freund/Nature Picture Library/CorbisA fisherman on an outrigger canoe catching yellowfin tuna with hook and line in Sulawesi, Indonesia.Photograph: Jurgen Freund/Jurgen Freund/Nature Picture Library/CorbisA fisherman on an outrigger canoe catching yellowfin tuna with hook and line in Sulawesi, Indonesia.Johnny Langenheim2015-01-14T09:40:27ZClimate denier Ted Cruz will oversee Nasa – what could possibly go wrong?http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/13/climate-denier-ted-cruz-will-oversee-nasa-what-could-possibly-go-wrong
<p>A staunch denier of global warming will have oversight of Nasa, one of the US’s key scientific agencies studying climate change, <a href="http://www.slate.com/blogs/bad_astronomy/2015/01/13/nasa_trouble_science_denier_ted_cruz_will_oversee_senate_committee_for_oversight.html">reports Slate</a></p><p>So, Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) <a href="http://www.commerce.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?p=PressReleases&amp;ContentRecord_id=8452ed0b-18be-4057-a376-babfd31322cb">was just named</a> to be the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness as Republicans take over the Senate. This subcommittee (which used to be just Space and Science but was recently renamed) is in charge of oversight of, among other things, NASA.</p><p><em>This is not a good thing</em>. Just how bad it is will be determined.</p><p>The last 15 years, there has been no recorded warming. Contrary to all the theories that—that they are expounding, there should have been warming over the last 15 years. It hasn’t happened. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/13/climate-denier-ted-cruz-will-oversee-nasa-what-could-possibly-go-wrong">Continue reading...</a>US politicsUS newsClimate changeClimate change scepticismEnvironmentWorld newsScienceTue, 13 Jan 2015 17:49:50 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/13/climate-denier-ted-cruz-will-oversee-nasa-what-could-possibly-go-wrongPhotograph: Yuri Gripas/REUTERSSenator Ted Cruz will be the chairman of the Subcommittee on Space, Science, and Competitiveness. Photo: Reuters/Yuri GripasPhil Plait for Slate, part of The Climate Desk2015-01-13T17:49:50Z12 dams that changed the worldhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/12/12-dams-that-changed-the-world-hoover-sardar-sarovar-three-gorges
<p>From the iconic Hoover Dam of US to Mao’s Three Gorges Dam in China and India’s Sardar Sarovar, here is a selection of 12 mega dams of the world – but are they a boon or bane? </p><p>Dams illustrate the brilliance and arrogance of human ingenuity. They generate <a href="http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/KeyWorld2013.pdf">one-sixth of the world’s electricity</a> and irrigate <a href="http://www.hydrocoop.org/the-role-of-dams-in-the-xxi-century/">one-seventh of our food crops</a>. They have flooded land areas the size of California, displaced a population the size of Germany’s, and turned freshwater into the ecosystem <a href="http://www.internationalrivers.org/node/8441">most threatened by species extinction</a>. Below are 12 of the 57,000 large dams that have changed the face of our planet:</p><p><strong>Hoover: the dam that gave us Las Vegas</strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/12/12-dams-that-changed-the-world-hoover-sardar-sarovar-three-gorges">Continue reading...</a>HydropowerEnvironmentRiversEnergyWorld newsMon, 12 Jan 2015 16:44:19 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2015/jan/12/12-dams-that-changed-the-world-hoover-sardar-sarovar-three-gorgesPhotograph: James Burke/Getty ImagesA view of the Kariba Dam.Photograph: James Burke/Getty ImagesA view of the Kariba Dam.Photograph: Leonardo Zavattaro/CorbisYacyretá Dam, on the Parana river between the province of Corrientes of Argentina and the Paraguayan city of Ayolas. The project generated controversy and criticism during its planning and construction, and is often referred to as a ‘monument to corruption’.Photograph: Leonardo Zavattaro/CorbisYacyretá Dam, on the Parana river between the province of Corrientes of Argentina and the Paraguayan city of Ayolas. The project generated controversy and criticism during its planning and construction, and is often referred to as a ‘monument to corruption’.Photograph: Sanjeev Gupta/EPAThe Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists – villagers affected principally by Sardar Sarovar Dam and also other dams on the river Narmada in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India – stand in chin-deep water demanding land to replace land which was submerged after the water level in Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar dams was raised.Photograph: Sanjeev Gupta/EPAThe Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) activists – villagers affected principally by Sardar Sarovar Dam and also other dams on the river Narmada in Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh in India – stand in chin-deep water demanding land to replace land which was submerged after the water level in Omkareshwar and Indira Sagar dams was raised.Photograph: Philip Dhill/EPAHundreds of Sudanese people hold banners supporting President Omar Al-Bashir during the inauguration of the massive hydro-electric dam in Merowe, north of Khartoum, on 3 March 2009.Photograph: Philip Dhill/EPAHundreds of Sudanese people hold banners supporting President Omar Al-Bashir during the inauguration of the massive hydro-electric dam in Merowe, north of Khartoum, on 3 March 2009.Photograph: Joel Rogers/CorbisElwha river restoration: Glines Canyon Dam removal on Lake Mills reservoir.Photograph: Joel Rogers/CorbisElwha river restoration: Glines Canyon Dam removal on Lake Mills reservoir.Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPAThe Hoover Dam, and behind it Lake Mead, which was at its lowest level since it was filled in 1937, near Boulder City, Nevada, US, on 24 July 2014.Photograph: Jim Lo Scalzo/EPAThe Hoover Dam, and behind it Lake Mead, which was at its lowest level since it was filled in 1937, near Boulder City, Nevada, US, on 24 July 2014.Peter Bosshard2015-01-12T16:44:19ZMumbai residents learn to live with leopards | Janaki Leninhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/jan/08/mumbai-residents-learn-live-with-leopards
<p>A unique participatory initiative in Mumbai helps residents deal with their fear of living with leopards <br></p><p>Residents reported seeing a leopard prowling around their village of Marodi, Karnataka. One news report claimed <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/leopard-caught-at-marodi/article6744315.ece">the animal had not taken any livestock, </a>while another said the<a href="http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/leopard-on-prowl-trapped-115010200356_1.html"> cat had killed a calf</a>. Importantly, the animal hadn’t threatened a human or displayed aberrant behaviour. <br /></p><p>The Wildlife Protection Act expressly says an animal that enjoys a high degree of protection such as the leopard has to pose a threat to human life before it can be caught. However, on New Year’s Eve, the forest department caught the animal.<br /></p><p>I received complaints every day. People claimed leopards were straying from the park and there was no prey for the cats. They wanted us to take all the leopards back to the park every evening.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/jan/08/mumbai-residents-learn-live-with-leopards">Continue reading...</a>AnimalsIndiaWildlifeConservationEndangered speciesEnvironmentThu, 08 Jan 2015 13:54:10 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2015/jan/08/mumbai-residents-learn-live-with-leopardsPhotograph: Paul Goldstein/Exodus/REXLeopards are adaptable creatures, living where ever there is plenty of rubbish and stray dogsPhotograph: Paul Goldstein/Exodus/REXLeopards are adaptable creatures, living where ever there is plenty of rubbish and stray dogsGuardian Staff2015-01-08T13:54:10ZTiger shot dead after killing another woman | Janaki Leninhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/29/man-eating-tiger-shot-dead-after-killing-another-woman
<p>Forest officials had ignored warning that relocating animal who had lost fear of humans was a dangerous and misguided conservation strategy </p><p>A tiger released in a wildlife sanctuary in south India has been shot dead on Sunday after it killed a woman. </p><p>The animal was <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/04/locals-fearful-suspected-killer-tiger-released-near-village-india">released in Bhimgad wildlife sanctuary, Karnataka, on 19 November</a>. The young tiger, suspected to have killed a woman in Pandaravalli village 186 miles away, was caught and released in the sanctuary. A large contingent of forest officials camped at Bhimgad to ensure it didn’t trouble villagers and also protect the tiger from people. Officials said the <a href="http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/karnataka/Villagers-Safe-from-Relocated-Tiger-Says-Forest-Department/2014/11/21/article2533848.ece">tiger did not pose a threat to human life</a>. But tiger biologist <a href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/tigers-release-puts-people-at-risk-ullas-karanth/article6631909.ece">Ullas Karanth had warned </a>it was not safe to release the animal as it seemed to have lost fear of humans.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/29/man-eating-tiger-shot-dead-after-killing-another-woman">Continue reading...</a>AnimalsWildlifeIndiaEndangered speciesConservationEnvironmentWorld newsMon, 29 Dec 2014 11:16:31 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/29/man-eating-tiger-shot-dead-after-killing-another-womanPhotograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty ImagesThe radio collar fixed around the tiger’s neck malfunctioned and officials couldn’t monitor the animal.Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty ImagesThe radio collar fixed around the tiger’s neck malfunctioned and officials couldn’t monitor the animal.Janaki Lenin2014-12-29T11:16:31ZIndia Changing the nilgai's name as management strategy | Janaki Leninhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/27/changing-nilgais-name-management-strategy
<p>The nilgai is a common crop pest in India. Religious connotation of the antelope’s name stymies management of the species. So efforts are being made to change its name. <br></p><p>In parts of India, farmers struggle to save their crops from nilgais. These are Asia’s largest antelopes; adult bucks stand 1.5m (5ft) at the shoulder and weigh about 300kg (45st). In English, they are often called ‘blue bulls’ because of the bucks’ bluish hue. <br /></p><p>One farmer told <a href="http://www.aninews.in/newsdetail2/story85105/rampaging-blue-bull-herds-destroy-crops-in-jharkhand.html">ANI News</a>, “These nilgais are like militants, no one can tell when they will attack. They come in herds of 40 to 50, and destroy entire fields. How long can we live like this? If this goes on, we will be forced to abandon agriculture and become hermits.”</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/27/changing-nilgais-name-management-strategy">Continue reading...</a>AnimalsWildlifeEnvironmentFarmingIndiaAnimal welfareSat, 27 Dec 2014 06:37:48 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/india-untamed/2014/dec/27/changing-nilgais-name-management-strategyPhotograph: Rom WhitakerA nilgai electrocuted by a live wire protecting a crop field.Photograph: Rom WhitakerA nilgai electrocuted by a live wire protecting a crop field.Guardian Staff2014-12-27T06:37:48ZMy quest to see every single one of the UK's snailshttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2014/dec/23/why-snails-are-as-important-as-butterflies
<p>Life in the slow lane isn’t dull and land snails are every bit as interesting and charismatic as butterflies</p><p>Several years ago I read <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/oct/16/butterfly-isles-patrick-barkham-review">Patrick Barkham’s The Butterfly Isles</a> in which he describes seeking out all 59 species of the most colourful, visible and well-documented insects in the UK. This is not unique: I met two people during a single day on a nature reserve this July who had achieved the same thing. </p><p>Barkham’s book was not about achieving something new; not simply a race to a determined finish line. It was a journey that sought to share the author’s personal passion with a wider audience and, in a time of global biodiversity decline, more champions for nature can only be a positive thing. </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2014/dec/23/why-snails-are-as-important-as-butterflies">Continue reading...</a>WildlifeUK newsButterfliesEnvironmentConservationTue, 23 Dec 2014 06:00:09 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/blog/2014/dec/23/why-snails-are-as-important-as-butterfliesPhotograph: Our Wild Life Photography / Alam/AlamyBrown-lipped snails (Cepaea nemoralis).Photograph: Our Wild Life Photography / Alam/AlamyBrown-lipped snails (Cepaea nemoralis).Photograph: AlamyA garden snail.Photograph: AlamyA garden snail.James Harding-Morris2014-12-23T06:00:09Z10 things to know about China, Latin America and the environmenthttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/dec/20/10-china-latin-america-environment
<p>New book argues Chinese firms’ presence in Latin America focuses on the most environmentally-damaging sectors</p><p>Question: when did contemporary political and media debate start on China’s “entry” into the Western hemisphere? Answer: January 1997, when Panama awarded concessions to a Chinese company to operate port facilities on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts at both ends of the Panama Canal, just after having obtained control of it from the US. </p><p>Question: when did Latin America and the Caribbean wake up to its dramatically expanding new relationship with China? Answer: November 2004, when the then Chinese president Hu Jintao visited Argentina, Brazil, Chile and Cuba and apparently spoke of the possibility of investing US$100 billion in the region – although the Chinese government later claimed it had been mistranslated and the US$100 billion referred to bilateral trade.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/dec/20/10-china-latin-america-environment">Continue reading...</a>ChinaOilMiningNicaraguaEnergyFossil fuelsSat, 20 Dec 2014 11:10:20 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/dec/20/10-china-latin-america-environmentPhotograph: Esteban Felix/AP‘No to the canal!’ Nicaraguans protest the proposed building of a canal through Nicaragua - one of the Chinese-backed projects mentioned in US researcher Evan Ellis’s new book.Photograph: Esteban Felix/AP‘No to the canal!’ Nicaraguans protest the proposed building of a canal through Nicaragua - one of the Chinese-backed projects mentioned in US researcher Evan Ellis’s new book.David Hill2014-12-20T11:10:20ZFracking and Lima climate talks slammed at Nature Rights Tribunal | David Hillhttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/dec/10/fracking-redd-lima-climate-talks-slammed-nature-tribunal
<p>Thirteen judges meet in Peru to hear accusations that the rights of ‘Mother Earth’ are being violated</p><p>It’s difficult to know what was more moving or arresting. There was the Ponca lady, Casey Camp-Horinek, starting to cry as she spoke about the impacts of hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking”, on her people in what she called “occupied” Oklahoma in the US, and saying “We’re having a funeral a week... We’re this close to being fracked to death.” </p><p>Then there was Kandi Mossett, from North Dakota, a fracking “victim who wasn’t able to come”. She appeared on the projector and broke down too, telling how “these radioactive frack socks [that are] off the charts on the Geiger counters” are being dumped and found by children who say things like, “Hey, we’re catching bugs with our nets.” </p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/dec/10/fracking-redd-lima-climate-talks-slammed-nature-tribunal">Continue reading...</a>Indigenous peoplesOilFossil fuelsEnergyMiningPeruEcuadorAustralia newsWed, 10 Dec 2014 13:52:57 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/environment/andes-to-the-amazon/2014/dec/10/fracking-redd-lima-climate-talks-slammed-nature-tribunalPhotograph: Free sourceFracking wellpads in Wyoming in the USA: “a total and utter form of destruction”, the International Tribunal on the Rights of Nature was told.Photograph: Free sourceFracking wellpads in Wyoming in the USA: “a total and utter form of destruction”, the International Tribunal on the Rights of Nature was told.David Hill2014-12-10T13:52:57Z